Testimony Begins In Killing Of Cab Driver

November 14, 1998|By CONSTANCE NEYER; Courant Staff Writer

HARTFORD — A city woman testified Friday about a carefully plotted arrangement in which her former boyfriend and her best friend discussed robbing a Yellow Taxi Cab driver in a 1996 incident that wound up a homicide.

It was the opening day of the Hartford Superior Court murder trial of Lucius Richardson, accused in the stabbing death of cab driver Colin L. Williams of Hartford. The trial before Judge Kevin McMahon began with the prosecution bringing one of its star witnesses, Richardson's former girlfriend, Danixa Sanchez.

She told the jury she was with Richardson and her best friend, Robin Ledbetter, as they planned to rob a cab driver.

Sanchez told how on the night of Feb. 24, 1996, she gathered in a house on Martin Street with Richardson, then 16 and known as ``Boo,'' and Ledbetter. They got the weapons to rob a cab driver.

Sanchez said Ledbetter asked to borrow her red scarf, which was used to wrap her knife in her hair, while Richardson showed her a black drill that looked like a handgun.

Sanchez, a petite woman who spoke softly of that night, remembered how her boyfriend asked Ledbetter if it ``was going to go down'' that night. She said ``yes,'' and they called Yellow Cab about 1:30 a.m. for a ride to Asylum Avenue.

Later, when Richardson came back to Martin Street with about $500, Sanchez said, Ledbetter told her she had washed the 6-inch-long knife in the basement.

Sanchez said they threw the knife in the garbage, and later went to sleep.

Police woke them after finding Martin Street was Williams' last call.

Richardson later told Sanchez that he ``put his drill to [Williams'] head.''

The victim's father, Joseph N. Williams, was in court for the trial of his son, who was known for his deejay work around the city.

The elder Williams said it was very difficult to watch as the jury handled the drill.

``It's very painful,'' he said. ``Imagine that going into your son's head.''

Sanchez said she didn't admit to her friends' involvement until a second statement.

Richardson earlier rejected a plea agreement offered by prosecutors. Ledbetter, 14 at the time of the killing, is awaiting trial after also rejecting a plea agreement.